Jayne Dowle: Weighing up statements on the future of banking

THE bosses at Yorkshire Bank say that a sharp increase in digital and mobile engagement is behind the decision to close 39 branches across the North of England.
Yorkshire Bank is under fire over the latest raft of branch closures.Yorkshire Bank is under fire over the latest raft of branch closures.
Yorkshire Bank is under fire over the latest raft of branch closures.

In other words, it’s us, the customers, who must shoulder the blame for the withdrawal of banking services from almost a score of branches in our own region alone.

Bradford, Hull, Filey, Goole, Pickering, Richmond, Wath-on-Dearne… soon, all these places and more will have no branch at all. Proud Yorkshire folk who want to set their children on the right fiscal path will have to go elsewhere.

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Somehow, the excitement of an evening spent online comparing young saver deals doesn’t have quite the same thrill as taking possession of your very first bank book. I’m not being sentimental or nostalgic. Progress is progress. And the Yorkshire Bank is not alone in withdrawing its physical presence from towns and villages.

Lloyds, HSBC, RBS and Barclays have all closed branches in the last 12 months, with Lloyds axing the most – 200 branches were consigned to the scrapheap in July last year. The reason is always the same; more people are choosing to bank online or use their mobile phones for daily transactions.

The result? A rapid decline in customers turning up at the counter. A statement released by Yorkshire Bank pointed out that the number of customers using their bank for day-to-day transactions across the banking industry in the UK has fallen by a third since 2011. You’ve got to look at it from a business point of view; if not enough people are coming through the door, it’s simply not a viable operation.

Tough decisions have to be taken. Closure, though, is not inevitable. That’s why I say hats off to our Barnsley branch of NatWest. It has recently been upgraded and offers every financial service you could think of – and a few you probably didn’t even know existed.

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It’s clear, though, that investment on such a scale is not viable for every single bank branch in the country. I accept that even banks don’t have endless reserves of cash to invest in their own assets. However, I wonder whether the wholesale closure of all these Yorkshire Bank branches could be a decision that will bring regret. A bank is a linchpin of a community, like a post office or a doctor’s surgery. Removing it is like losing a tooth. There remains a gap that cannot be effectively filled. Those who drive forward closure programmes always argue that the gap is being filled, but through the invisible signals of broadband and wifi.

They have a point. The first thing I do every morning, before I even start work, is to check my bank balance on my mobile phone. I am lucky, though. I have access to good wifi and a decent phone. Not everyone is as fortunate, or as willing and able to embrace new technology.

My mother, for example, has vowed to never embrace mobile banking. She doesn’t even use text messaging for a start. How would she cope if her Barnsley branch of the Halifax closed down? She would have to travel to Meadowhall every time she wanted to do any business more complicated than withdrawing money from a cashpoint. Given that she doesn’t drive, a simple transaction could turn into a major undertaking.

My parents are not alone. There are millions of people like this across the land, many of them living in rural and isolated places. Their plight however, seems to have gone unnoticed by those determined to drive forward change – and the Government.

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It hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Association of Convenience Stores (ACS) however, which is calling for more support for the UK’s 19,000 rural shops in the face of rising costs and “unacceptable” broadband capacity.

Just like the banks, this sector is experiencing a kind of alternative reality in which remote decision-makers and ministers imagine a population happily going about their business hooked up to ultra-reliable, super-fast broadband. The irony is that the technology which is freeing up some leaves others stranded.

The constant ongoing determination to force us all to do our banking and household management online is challenge enough. What the ACS also reports is that in many outlets, services cannot operate efficiently enough because effective infrastructure simply doesn’t exist. ACS chief executive James Lowman says that rural outlets are being hampered by their own lack of fast mobile connectivity and unacceptable broadband capacity.

This is a matter which goes beyond the remit, or budget, of ordinary shopkeepers and should demand targeted investment from the Government, which after all, made a manifesto pledge to sustain 3,000 rural post offices.

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What wasn’t in the manifesto was any kind of joined-up policy which focuses on ensuring that provision of essential services is secure in our communities, large or small. Some might argue that this is not the role of government. I believe it is. A population cut off from the conveniences of modern life is not a productive, effective and engaged population. Surely no government wants that?